International Town-Gown Association
DATELINE
College Town News From Around the World

February 26, 2015
Welcome to Dateline, a weekly newsletter 
highlighting college town news from around the world
In This Issue
Saint Peter's Students get Real Experience in the Business World Through 'Town and Gown' 
The Jersey Journal, by Sudip Bhattacharya
Brian Grubbs, Yani Pigott, and Luis Blanco are brain-storming ways that a local business can promote itself more efficiently through use of social media. However, the group is not made up of high-paid, high-profile consultants, they're students at Saint Peter's University gaining valuable real-world experience through a senior capstone class called "Town and Gown." Now in its second year, Town and Gown is a collaboration between the Saint Peter's business program and the Hudson County Chamber of Commerce, by which small groups of students work as consultants for local businesses. "It's a win for  students," said Saint Peter's professor Chanaz Gargouri, one of the course's three instructors. "They're going to have real-life experiences. These are real companies and real entrepreneurs." Karl C. Alorbi, the chair of the Saint Peter's Department of Business Administration, agrees that the experience is important for the students, but also adds that it's beneficial for the companies who take part, especially because the companies are local. 
UMass Neighborhood Liaison to Patrol Off-campus Housing
Daily Collegian, by Colby Sears
Campus and local police will no longer be the only ones patrolling Amherst streets after dark on weekends. The University of Massachusetts is in the process of hiring a neighborhood liaison that will monitor off-campus hous- ing and encourage proactive student behavior. "The goal is to have a staff member who is not law enforcement and is not from the Dean of Students Office, who is walking in the neighborhoods adjacent to the campus and kind of serving to help both the students and the residents," said Nancy Buffone, executive director of external relations and university events at UMass. The liaison will work with both local and campus public safety officials, responding to incidents in which student behavior gets out of control. Although the weekend watchman will be responsible for monitoring multiple off-campus neighborhoods, areas around Fearing Street and parts of North Amherst are a primary concern. "When he or she sees large numbers of students going to one particular residence, they can knock on the door and  keep an eye on what's going on...if the person is in a situation where he or she feels like they need additional backup, they'll call the police,"Buffone said.       
Sprout Labs Offer Agri-business Entrepreneurs Resources 
Town-Gown Nation News
Mid Michigan's Second Wave, by Kin Eggleston
If you haven't heard of Sprout Lab and you're into big ideas and the future of the region, it's something you might want to check out.  Sprout Lab is a public-private partnership with several colleges and universities in Michigan, along with government agencies, business foundations, small business agencies and other groups interested in innovation and entrepreneurship. They're holding a series of idea boot camps and seminars all over the state, including one that took place in Bay City in mid-February. The boot camps are designed to help innovators, inventors and entrepreneurs move their ideas forward, especially in the realms of agribusiness, natural recourses, tourism or renewable energy.  Among the local partners are the MI-SBDC, East Michigan Council of Governments, Saginaw Valley State University, Grand Valley State University, and the Isabella Bank Center for Entre-preneurship at Central Michigan University.
A Different Kind of College Town 
Salisbury Post, by Jeanie Groh
When you think about college towns in North Carolina, Salisbury probably isn't the first place that comes to mind. With four institutions of higher learning in the city, however, Salisbury is its own unique type of college town. In a stereotypical college town, a large college or university dominates a very small municipality, control-ling traffic, business and the housing market. That's not the case in Salisbury, though. According to a survey released last week, Catawba College, its students, visitors and alumni created $91.3 million in added regional income in the region through their spending. The survey was conducted by Economic Modeling Specialists International and was a part of a larger economic impact study done for North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities. The study also says the colleges contributes $13.8 million to the local economy in payroll and benefits, and $27.8 million in goods and services. Just under half, 45 percent, of Catawba's students come from outside the region, and will spend $2.1 million on things such as gas, groceries and rent. The study also said the accumulated contribution of currently employed alumni in the region is $63.2 million to the economy.    
$1 To Save Bicycling on Campus at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 
Clean Technica, by Cynthia Shahan
One dollar is not much to some folks. It is to others. However, for everyone, one dollar from a vast number of people is enough to do something significant. Grace Kyung, a graduate student studying urban planning at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign consider-ed this before leading a campaign for bicycling on cam-pus. Her idea was to push for a $1 semesterly fee for bicycle programs and infrastructure. 73% of the students favored this idea and the fee passed. Another college campus that has led the bicycle way forward for some time is the University of Tennessee. With a lot of hills, one is not always up for pedaling. An e-bike makes getting around on two wheels so much more doable. Of course, bike commuting is skyrocketing, especially in "Bike friendly Communities," and college towns are often the best for bicycling. "In general, bike commuting has skyrocketed, doubling from 1.7 billion in 2001 to 4 billion in 2009.   
Borough Community Engagement Office Introduces Off-Campus Living Guide
Onward State, by Melissa McCleery
The State College Borough Community Engagement Office, in conjunction with Off-Campus Student Union, is introducing an off-campus living booklet called the LION Guide. The guide seeks to simplify and streamline information about the off-campus living process, which can be confusing for students new to downtown living. Community Engagement intern Amy Hopf has worked on editing the LION Guide over the past few months, after a previous intern gathered content and started the writing process. The Off-Campus Student Union partnered with the Community Engagement Office to help with distribution, gathering student organization advertisers, and rounding up testimonials for the Guide. The LION Guide is just one "LION" branded initiative in a set of projects the Community Engagement Office is enacting to join town and gown relationships. LION stands for "Living In One Neighborhood," and describes projects that are meant to bring together students and community members for shared interests, and teach everyone how to be a good neighbor.     
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